Exercise game

ABSTRACT

A game wherein provision is made for the chance designation of the character and duration of performance of an exercise selected from a group of exercises designed to condition the body of the player in five important physical fitness component areas including cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, agility, balance and strength. Instructions for the performance of these exercises are imprinted on one side of cards of various colors which are arranged colored side up in piles relating to the various physical components for which the described exercise is designed. Special dice are provided, one having color designations which indicate the pile from which the player shall select a designated exercise and the other having numerals to indicate the period of time to be devoted for the performance thereof. Scoring is based upon the judgment of the instructor as to performance, effort and endurance. A timer is provided to measure the time designated by the cast of the numbered die.

United States Patent [191 Leaf [ 1 3,722,885 1 Mar. 27, 1973 [54] EXERCISE GAME [76] Inventor: Carol Ann Leaf, 18W130 73rd Place, Westmont, Ill. 22 Filed: July 13,1971

[211 App]. No.: 162,229

[52] US. Cl. ..273/1 R, 272/57 R, 273/135 AA [51] Int. Cl. ..A63i 1/00 [58] Field of Search ....272/57; 273/1, 134, 135, 138, 273/148,152.31

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS v 1,685,723 9/1928 Robins." ..273/135 D 2,239,779 4/1941 Clark et al. ...273/134 AD 9/1962 Kemp. ..273/152.31 X

Primary Examinen-Delbert B. Lowe AttarneyCarlton Hill et al.

[57 ABSTRACT A .game wherein provision is made for the chance designation of the character and duration of performance of an exercise selected from a group of exercises designed to condition the body of the player in five important physical fitness'component areas including cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, agility, balance and strength. Instructions for the performance of these exercises are imprinted on one side of cards of various colors which are arranged colored side up in piles relating to the various physical components for which the described exercise is designed. Special dice are provided, one having color designations which indicate the pile from which the player shall select a designated exercise'and the other having numerals to indicate the period of time to be devoted for the performance thereof. Scoring is based upon the judgment of the instructor asto performance, effort and endurance. A timer is provided to measure the time designated by the east of the numbered die.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures EXPL Ali/19770 Patented March 27, 1973 INVENTOR. Caro/flnn leaf" BYm awwomvays 1 EXERCISE GAME SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Although the performance of certain designated exercises within the five component areas or categories of cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, agility, balance and strength is highly important in the maintenance of physical fitness, such performance when conducted in a routine progressive manner becomes dull and uninteresting to the persons involved.

It is an object, therefore, of this invention to provide a game wherein the character and duration of performance of an exercise within the groups referred to may be determined by chance so that when the game is played the ultimate scoring of the players may be varied in accordance with the exercise so determined, thus adding competitive interest.

This object is attained in the present invention by providing a board on which are stacked five piles of cards each colored on one side to designate an exercise in a component area. Instructions for performance of a particular exercise are imprinted on the uncolored face of each card. Cards of the same color are arranged printed side down in each pile.

Two dice are provided, one (a) for designating the component pile from which the exercise card is to be drawn and the other (b) for determining the length of time during which the exercise designated is to be performed. Certain faces of one die are colored to show the designated component areas. One uncolored face is provided so that if it is up the player may select a card from any component pile of his choice. The other die is imprinted with numbers on each face to show the time allotted for the particular exercise. The board is preferably provided with a marked space where the selected card may be placed with the printed side exposed so that the player may read instructions as to performance of the exercise selected.

The game of this invention thus adds the elements of chance and competitive interest to what otherwise would be uninteresting routine exercises.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent from the drawings and the following specification which show and describe a preferred form of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of a board showing the positions of various piles of individually colored cards (with the same color in each pile) to be selected at random in accordance with the cast of a die and also having a space for positioning of the selected card face side up to shown an explanation of the specified exercise;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the die which selects a particular pile of cards; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a die having marked on its various faces the designated time of performance of the selected exercise.

REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS On the drawings, the reference numeral 1 designates a board having marked spaces 2, 3, 4', 5 and 6 for the positioning of piles of cards of designated colors, in the present instance yellow, red, purple, blue and green, respectively. Each card of these piles of cards has imprinted on the uncolored face thereof an explanation of or directions for performing a particular exercise and each of the piles contains a series of cards prescribing exercises individually designed to develop cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, agility, balance and strength. Preferably the board is provided with a space 7 where the selected card is placed face up so that the player may observe explanation or directions for the exercise which has been designated to be performed in a random manner as will be hereinafter described.

FIG. 2 shows a conventional die 8 which is marked with the colors corresponding to the card piles 2 to 6, inclusive, and which also may be left uncolored on one face for a purpose to be described hereinafter. By the casting of die 8 the up side designates the pile from which the exercise card is to be selected in that the color designation will correspond to the color of the cards'in that particular pile.

A die 9 is provided with various numbers on the faces thereof. In the present instance the numbers 1 and 2 are shown, the number 1 designating a one-minute performance of the exercise selected in accordance with the cast of die 8 and the numeral 2 indicating a twominute performance of that exercise.

In playing the game by several players the order of the players is determined from left to right. Each person shakes and rolls the dice for himself and the color which comes up" shows the color matched deck or physical fitness component area from which a card may be drawn. The color white coming up" permits the player to have a choice from any deck or pile.

The number appearing on the top of die 9 shows the number of minutes assigned to the performance of the exercise described on the selected card.

When the exercise has been designated a timer is started. The timer is not shown but either an electric timing clock or a simple gravity type of egg timer may be used. The player at his own pace completes as many repetitions of the exercise as possible within the allotted time and his score which may be based upon the judgment of the instructor is recorded. Each player takes five turns in rotation in order to complete the game. The player with the most points is determined the winner.

If desired, instead of the player shaking and rolling the dice for his exercise he may shake and roll them to designate the exercise to be performed by an adjacent player. In group exercising all players may perform the selected exercise in unison. Points are scored on an achievement level basis, the lowest number being for par performance; the next number of points being for superior' effort; the next number for excellent endurance, and the highest number is for ultimate performance.

The conditioning resulting from the playing of this game is preferably in the most desired physical fitness component areas and several exercises are included for each component, the exercise performed being determined by chance.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the provision of the game of this invention introduces the desirable elements of chance (as to the exercise selected and duration of performance thereof) and of competitive interest as contributing to the enjoyment of performing the beneficial exercises specified.

It will be apparent that details of this invention may be varied without departing from the principles thereof and I, therefore, do not purpose limiting the patent otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An exercise game comprising, a plurality of cards divided into groups, each group containing a plurality of cards, the cards in each group having backs with the same indicia which is distinguished from the indicia on the backs of cards of each other group, exercise instructions imprinted on the face of said cards, the instructions imprinted on each group of cards relating to the same category of exercises and to a category different from that imprinted on each other group, said cards being adapted to be arranged in piles according to their back indicia, with the faces downward, when in play, and random means for selecting a single card group indicia from the plurality thereof and for selecting a number from a plurality of numbers.

2. A method of exercising comprising, providing a plurality of cards divided into groups, each group containing a plurality of cards, the cards in each group having backs with matching indicia which is distinguished from the indicia on the backs of each other group, the faces of the cards in each group being imprinted with exercise instructions within the same category of exercises but different from the category of exercises imprinted on the faces of the cards in each other group, arranging the cards in a plurality of piles, face downward, with the cards having the same back indicia in the same pile, operating random selecting means bearing indicia corresponding to those on the backs of said cards and bearing numbers, selecting the top card of the pile of cards having back indicia corresponding to that indicated by the random selecting device, and performing the exercise imprinted on the selected cards for a number of units of time corresponding to the number on the random selecting means.

3. The game of claim 1 wherein the random means comprises a die having different indicia on faces thereof corresponding to the indicia on the backs of the cards in each group.

4. The game of claim 3 wherein at least one face of the dies has no card designating indicia whereby to permit free selection by a player of a card from any desired pile of cards.

5. The game of claim 1 wherein the random means comprise two dice, one die having indicia on faces thereof corresponding to the indicia on'the backs of the cards in each group and the other die having indicia thereon to designate different numbers of units of time for performance of the imprinted exercise on the card. 

1. An exercise game comprising, a plurality of cards divided into groups, each group containing a plurality of cards, the cards in each group having backs with the same indicia which is distinguished from the indicia on the backs of cards of each other group, exercise instructions imprinted on the face of said cards, the instructions imprinted on each group of cards relating to the same category of exercises and to a category different from that imprinted on each other group, said cards being adapted to be arranged in piles according to their back indicia, with the faces downward, when in play, and random means for selecting a single card group indicia from the plurality thereof and for selecting a number from a plurality of numbers.
 2. A method of exercising comprising, providing a plurality of cards divided into groups, each group containing a plurality of cards, the cards in each group having backs with matching indicia which is distinguished from the indicia on the backs of each other group, the faces of the cards in each group being imprinted with exercise instructions within the same category of exercises but different from the category of exercises imprinted on the faces of the cards in each other group, arranging the cards in a plurality of piles, face downward, with the cards having the same back indicia in the same pile, operating random selecting means bearing indicia corresponding to those on the backs of said cards and bearing numbers, selecting the top card of the pile of cards having back indicia corresponding to that indicated by the random selecting device, and performing the exercise imprinted on the selected cards for a number of units of time corresponding to the number on the random selecting means.
 3. The game of claim 1 wherein the random means comprises a die having different indicia on faces thereof corresponding to the indicia on the backs of the cards in each group.
 4. The game of claim 3 wherein at least one face of the dies has no card designating indicia whereby to permit free selection by a player of a card from any desired pile of cards.
 5. The game of claim 1 wherein the random means comprise two dice, one die having indicia on faces thereof corresponding to the indicia on the backs of the cards in each group and the other die having indicia thereon to designate different numbers of units of time for performance of the imprinted exercise on the card. 